Food Security · Africa ranking
Acute Food Insecurity by African country
Sudan has the highest acutely food insecure population (IPC Phase 3+) of any African country, at 22.5M, ahead of Nigeria and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
People in IPC/CH Phase 3 (Crisis) or worse — acute food insecurity requiring urgent action — from FEWS NET's latest current-situation estimate. 26 of 54 countries, ranked · FEWS NET FOOD SECURITY, 2026-07.
Latest available year varies by country (2023–2026); each row shows its year, and values more than 5 years behind the most recent are marked ⚠.
Sudan
Nigeria
Democratic Republic of the CongoBy region
The top 5 countries account for 73% of Africa's total acutely food insecure population (IPC Phase 3+).
Full ranking
| # | Country | Acute Food Insecurity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sudan | 22.5M | |
| 2 | Nigeria | 20.5M | |
| 3 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 16.5M | |
| 4 | Ethiopia | 8.5M | |
| 5 | South Sudan | 8.5M | |
| 6 | Somalia | 5.5M | |
| 7 | Chad | 2.75M | |
| 8 | Kenya | 2.75M | |
| 9 | Mozambique | 2.25M | |
| 10 | Niger | 2.25M | |
| 11 | Cameroon | 1.75M | |
| 12 | Mali | 1.75M | |
| 13 | Burkina Faso | 1.25M | |
| 14 | Madagascar | 1.25M | |
| 15 | Malawi | 1.25M | |
| 16 | Zimbabwe | 1.25M | |
| 17 | Central African Republic | 875K | |
| 18 | Uganda | 875K | |
| 19 | Angola | 625K | |
| 20 | Burundi | 625K | |
| 21 | Cote d'Ivoire | 625K | |
| 22 | Togo | 375K | |
| 23 | Zambia | 375K | |
| 24 | Mauritania | 175K | |
| 25 | Rwanda | 175K | |
| 26 | Lesotho | 50K |
Ethiopia
South Sudan
Somalia
Chad
Kenya
Mozambique
Niger
Cameroon
Mali
Burkina Faso
Madagascar
Malawi
Zimbabwe
Central African Republic
Uganda
Angola
Burundi
Cote d'Ivoire
Togo
Zambia
Mauritania
Rwanda
LesothoGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Acute Food Insecurity figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=acutely_food_insecure_phase3plus_total&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — FEWS NET FOOD SECURITY, 2026-07. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest acutely food insecure population (IPC Phase 3+)?
Sudan has the highest acutely food insecure population (IPC Phase 3+) in Africa at 22.5M (2026-07), followed by Nigeria and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Which African country has the lowest acutely food insecure population (IPC Phase 3+)?
Lesotho has the lowest acutely food insecure population (IPC Phase 3+) of the 26 African countries with data, at 50K (2026-07).
How many African countries report Acute Food Insecurity data?
26 of 54 African countries have a Acute Food Insecurity figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries, here 2023–2026). Every value links to its full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=acutely_food_insecure_phase3plus_total&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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